Legions (23 page)

“What are you two up to in
there, huh? Scheming away?” Cyril asked, seemingly like his old
self. I found myself watching Arie’s every movement, rather than
his. Maybe, it was her who began the cycle, and he can sense her
discomfort or something. He seemed happy and completely like I was
used to. The coffee maker beeped, letting me know that I could
finally get my hands on the best wake up method I knew. Grabbing
two mugs from the cabinet, I poured the steaming liquid into both,
hollering to Cyril and Arie on my way out of the kitchen to help
themselves as I headed back down to our bedroom to talk with Athen
before we started our day in the village.

Shapeshifting seemed a
little terrifying to say the least, but Cyril and Arie were set on
showing me how to do it, so that over time I’d get the hang of it
again. I was excited to see it because they had always kept this
part from me. It’s kind of terrifying thinking that they could be
in someone else’s body, and I might not even know it. Actually, it
was frightening to think that I could be in someone else’s body,
never mind them.

Truthfully, I think they
were trying to come up with things to keep my mind occupied and
somewhat focused, rather than what I’d really like to do which was
stare at a wall and think of Athen or actually stare at Athen,
forget the wall.

Athen was pulling the wool
sweater over his head as I closed the door quickly to our bedroom
and placed the mugs of coffee on the nightstand.

“Okay, your sister is
completely convinced that something is going on with Cyril. Have
you noticed anything?”

“To be honest, I’ve been so
occupied with eating up every second that I can spend with you that
I haven’t been paying much attention to them on that level.” He
kind of grimaced in embarrassment exactly how I’d felt the night
before.

“Yeah, that’s kind of what
I told her too.”

Athen came over to me,
wrapping his arms around my waist, the tie on my robe getting in
the way of his hold.

“Are you after me or the
coffee behind me?”

“Both!” He said, grinning
and letting go to reach for the mug as I went to the bathroom to
shower.

“The things she was
mentioning kind of clicked as she spoke about them, but they
weren’t anything that I’d noticed until she pointed them
out.”

“Like what?” He asked, now
in the bathroom sipping his coffee.

“Well, the level of
affection or lack of it compared to normal. I chalked it up to him
not wanting to make things worse on me while you were gone, but she
said it’s been since you were back too. I kind of saw it last
night… I think. Or I could just be on high alert now that she
mentioned it. Either way, she’s really worried about it and
focusing on it. So he hasn’t mentioned anything to you?” The spray
of the shower alerting my muscles to the previous day’s activities,
I stood in place letting the warmth penetrate me to my
core.

“No, he hasn’t mentioned a
thing. I’ll check it out though.”

“Thanks. I thought we
should be on the same page in case it actually meant something
along the way. I hope not, though.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ll meet
you out in the living room.”

***

Arie was attempting to be
back to her bubbly self, but there was no way she could fake that
totally. A bit of her sparkle was definitely missing.

We had all ventured to one
of the parking lots closest to the village where the day visitors
often parked. Everyone thought it was best to show me the first of
the shapeshifting with people who would be gone from here as fast
as they came. The gravel crunched as we all found our way towards
the back of the lot, near where all of the RVs were
sitting.

“So are you gonna pounce on
the first poor soul who wanders by, or how is this whole training
by example thing supposed to work?” I asked, completely
perplexed.

“Probably the first person
who wanders by.” Arie said, laughing.

“And they won’t remember a
thing?” I asked, not understanding the process.

“Not a thing.” Athen
stepped up behind me and rubbed my shoulders like I was getting
ready for something myself.

The far off crunching began
to reach us as we realized our first target was coming up quicker
than we realized. Whoever it was they were blocked by all of the
cars that were parked up and down the aisles, so we had no idea
whether it was male or female, old or young. The butterflies began
stirring inside as their steps became louder and louder. I followed
Arie’s every move, watching for any sort of preparation that I
might need to learn. As usual, there didn’t seem to be any. She
stepped out from where we were all standing to the major throughway
of the lot, readying herself for her victim.

She smiled and nodded at
the man who had stopped right in front of her. He seemed friendly
and helpful. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a green polo,
probably in Whistler to enjoy a day of drinking and hiking. I
grabbed for Athen’s hand right before the man began to look
concerned.

Arie’s entire body whisked
itself into the man who was standing in front of her. It happened
so quickly, the only thing my eyes could pick up was the odd
expression the man had as his gut was pushed back into himself. Not
really understanding what exactly I witnessed, I looked up at Athen
for confirmation. He pulled me over to Arie, who was now inhabiting
this man’s body. It was that quick.

“Hey, what’s up?” Arie
asked, in a now deep, male voice. She reached around to hug me, but
that just seemed creepy.

“I don’t think so, thanks
though.” I said, laughing.

She began placing her hands
above her head and started dancing like we were all suddenly at a
club, and it was funnier than I ever imagined. As she took this
poor unsuspecting guy’s body and began dipping her body to the
floor and circulating her hips, I couldn’t hold in my laughter in
any longer. The topper was her bending over to shake her booty like
she was totally getting down.

“Man, we’ve got some sick
humor, huh?” I was barely able to get it out to Athen, whose eyes
were streaming with tears by now.

“Not bad, right?” The
stranger’s loud voice began booming as she got back up to look at
us. “I think that’s enough for this poor guy. You all wanna move
down the lot a little bit so it doesn’t look like there’s a mob of
us staring at him when he comes to?”

We all started moving back
towards the entrance to the village when, I felt the strength of
the strange man’s hand wrap around my wrist.

“Not you. I want you to see
how it completes.”

Looking at Athen, he nodded
and kept walking. I stood my distance as the man’s body began
convulsing. It seemed like minutes were passing, but I was sure it
was only seconds. An intense glow began escaping from the man’s
chest as she glided out of his shell as quickly as she squeezed
into it. Doing my best to get rid of the alarm on my face, not
knowing when he would reappear as himself, I stared at where Arie
was standing, now about five feet from him. She was bending over
looking like she was picking up things from her purse that had
rolled under the car.

“Hey, miss. Is everything
okay?” The man asked Arie, as she was picking up the scattered
items from her purse that she only moments before spilled on
purpose.

“Oh yeah!” She said
giggling. “Just my clumsy self. Got it all now, thanks.” She said,
with her beautiful smile, surely melting the guy where he stood. He
hadn’t a clue.

She stood up completely and
walked towards me, grabbing my hand as we proceeded to meet the
guys in the village.

“Seamless.” I
whispered.

“Pretty sweet, huh?” She
whispered back.

“Yeah, now I have to only
figure out what the heck you did.” I playfully scowled at her
before heading into the village.

***

We were sitting at a table
in the far corner of the Dublin Gate, surrounded by the beautiful
cherry wood booth and exposed brick wall, it felt especially cozy
and secluded for the conversation that was bound to
happen.

After we all ordered our
pints, I looked around at everyone waiting for some sort of
explanation, and none came. What I did notice, however, was Cyril’s
arm wrapped around Arie’s shoulder.

“Okay, well, this is overly
informative. Not to be a pest, but you guys are expecting me to
give it a go on Karen, and I don’t have a clue about what I should
be doing. Oh, wait. Lemme guess. I need to feel the target and pow.
I’m there.” I said grinning.

“You know how everyone has
a first impression or a vibe they give off? It’s kind of an essence
of who they are? That’s what we tap into.” Athen said.

“Like Karen - what strikes
you most about her?” Athen asked.

“I’d say her protective
nature, but how would that create a way for me to go for
it?”

“Check this out.” Cyril
said, nodding at our waitress who was coming over with our poutine.
“What do you get from her?”

She put the poutine down
and paused, looking at us a little curiously, and then
giggled.

“Did I forget something? I
feel like I forgot something?” She asked.

“Nope, we’ve got it all.
Thanks.” Athen told her and she spun away.

“She seems a bit goofy, fun
spirited.” I replied, sipping my Guinness slowly.

“So when she comes back,
we’ll keep her here for a sec, and I want you to really concentrate
on her. Tap into that energy. That’s what you can channel a bit.
Get the feel for it.” Arie whispered.

“I’ll give it a go.” Was
all I could come up with as we dug into our appetizer. Slowly
scanning the pub, I decided to pause on each individual to see how
different the feelings were that washed over me. Not expecting that
much of a difference from person to person, I was completely
surprised at how vast the emotions were that I was able to pick up
on. The one bartender had a darkness around him, a very pessimistic
vibe, whereas the other one was totally happy-go-lucky, kind of
reminded me Arie, actually. The three customers who were lined up
at the bar, each had something different to offer up too. Staring
at the cast of characters in the pub, I almost missed that our
waitress had returned to check on us. Next thing I know Athen’s
asking where she’s from and Arie started piping in all sorts of
things.

Trying to not freak her
out, I did my best to look past her rather than at her as I tried
hard to tap into what made up her most human self. The colors of
her soul began swirling through my mind, the spirit of her
character becoming tangible. Feeling as if I could almost touch her
beating heart, my head began spinning as I felt my own cells
beginning to merge with hers. Something was beginning to happen
that I wasn’t sure was supposed to happen, at least at this very
moment. A commotion began quietly as Athen began distracting me,
and Arie stood up making the waitress move suddenly, disconnecting
our connection. The waitress touching her head, began moving away
from our table cautiously.

“Hey, guys. I’m actually
due for a break so if there isn’t anything else I can get you right
now, I’ll be back in about ten minutes.” She said, rubbing her
temples.

“Yeah, sure totally – no
problem.” Cyril said, quickly trying to dismiss anything as
unusual.

Watching the waitress take
off towards the back entrance, I was pretty certain something came
over her that I hadn’t intended.

“Is she okay?” I
murmured.

“She’ll be fine. Honestly,
I can’t believe that just happened.” Athen seemed like he was about
to jump out of his seat. He was more interested in me than the poor
waitress.

“Wasn’t that what you guys
wanted?” I asked confused.

“We never thought it would
go there, Ana. She’s a complete stranger. You actually started to
experience the shapeshifting. If we hadn’t broken it up, I think
you would have completed it.” Cyril was shaking his head in
complete disbelief, and that wouldn’t have been the best spectacle
in the middle of the pub.

“GOD, I’m proud you,” Athen
said nestling his head into my hair, “You never cease to amaze
me.”

“Does this mean I don’t
have to do it to Karen?” I asked hopeful.

“You know, not sure you
have to actually. What’s the point? Right? Apparently a stranger is
just as easy for you.”

“Thank God! Between a room
full of chains and blood, flying around a mountain top, and
possibly entering into someone else’s body, I think I’ve had enough
action on my Whistler trip.”

The tension completely left
as I relished the idea of a restful and drama-free dinner with
Karen tonight before we headed back to Victoria the next
morning.

Chapter 26

The viciousness and
frequency of the attacks were getting worse. As soon as we got back
to Victoria, we were dealt more of my visions. The last three
restless nights left us with no options. An attack was on the
horizon, and we had the chance to stop it. My family had begun to
decipher the pattern, and we had decided to try to thwart the next
one, hopefully sending a message. If it was me that Azazel wanted
to fight, then it was me he should fight, not the mortals. They had
no chance. The demons were obviously cruel by nature but knowing
their true intent had nothing to do with the mortals and made it
that much more painful to witness.